This invention relates to apparatus for and a method of shoring a structure, such as a slab of concrete forming the floor of a building or a driveway, parking lot or road.
Houses and other buildings are often built with floors constituted by concrete slabs in direct contact with the soil therebelow. If this soil settles, sections of the slab may sag or crack. Various shoring methods are available to resolve this problem, but the most common involves a "mud pumping" process wherein a hardenable fluid mix is pumped under pressure below the slab to raise it. However, this method has serious drawbacks, especially when used inside a building inasmuch as the "mud" pumped below the slab tends to flow into surrounding pipes, ductwork, sewer systems, and other places where it may cause considerable damage. Moreover, the mud pumping process requires the use of expensive machinery and large quantities of "mud". Accordingly, the process is both costly and messy.
Shoring apparatus generally relevant to the present invention is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,902,326, 3,796,055 and 2,982,103.